Uncharacteristically, I am about to give linking advice for your blog, rather than law school advice. Hopefully, it shan't be too painful.
If you have a new blog, then you must publicize it. Email establish bloggers about your new blog. Try to have actual posts on your blog before you do this, because otherwise there is nothing to read. Make sure your first posts are really good and not blithering idiocy. That, unfortunately, will not establish a readership (however, as I have proven, it might sometimes retain your readers). Do not, however, expect that every blogger you ask will link to you. In fact, don't even ask for a link, just tell them about your new blog. Because I am rather picky about the content level here, I don't like linking to new blogs because they are new. Many others are like me. Many others are not. If you are smart enough, you will be able to figure the people that are most likely to link to you.
You must link. Even if you plan to generate content that normally doesn't require any links (like stories or what not), link. Create in between posts that link to other blogs and continue the conversation. It will get you noticed. If you can't bring yourself to do that, at least have a blogroll or list of links.
When you link, you must click on the link. This is especially true if nobody is reading your blog. Otherwise, how will we know that you have linked to us? It's sort of like the sound of one hand clapping. Or the tree that fell down. Or whatever. Write your post. Link. Look at home page. Click on the link. After you make a blogroll, go and click on every single link.
Okay, that is all. Volokhs &c. have a post somewhere on this very topic (especially the publicity part), but I can't find it. Do not forget to click. I mean it.
Emailing someone and publicizing your weblog is a tricky business, at best. I can't join Alice on this recommendation. One thing I would recommend doing instead is commenting on other people's blogs; almost all commenting systems allow you to enter a URL that people can click through to. Although the practice annoys me, you can always say "I talk more about this over at my blog" and then provide a link.
People will find you if you are giving them something they want. But if you are worried about traffic, you are forever destined to be disappointed. I quit reading my server logs months ago, and find I'm much happier knowing my handful of friends are reading.
Posted by: Lane on July 6, 2003 03:37 PMI certainly agree that worrying about traffic is pointless. It is nice, however, to see who is reading what you are writing, and this can result in an interesting feeling of community. This is, I think, one of the ways that blogging is likely to change the way law is practiced in the coming years.
Generally I have found that the people who email me to announce their blogs are the ones who are the least likely to keep at this long enough to find their way onto my list, but if a project looks promising I'll mention it, and I'll blog roll it if it stays good for a few weeks.
I've said before that reading blogs is a lot like reading a journal article footnotes first. The reason to cite a site is to give credit where it is due, not for self promotion. The fact that it is self promoting is merely a nice extra.
Posted by: Bill Altreuter on July 6, 2003 10:06 PM"Make sure your first posts are really good and not blithering idiocy."
wtf is wrong with blithering idiocy?! :)
Posted by: mr. pizzle on July 6, 2003 11:56 PMI would add to that:
Learn how to syndicate your blog using RSS. Some of the time it means you may never know who's reading you, but it will get your name out there, particularly since RSS spans blogging communities quite well. For instance, if you have friends using Livejournal, they can syndicate your blog so that it pops up in their friends list. A number of my readers have 'feed lists' that they trawl: I only know they're there when they mail me.
Anything that lowers the barriers between you and your readers is a good thing, and a good RSS feed does just that.
Posted by: A. R. on July 7, 2003 04:00 PMThe best way I've found to attract links to to come up with compelling content--something people will want to link to. Note that for purposes of increasing your site's popularity, it doesn't matter whether the people linking to you agree or disagree wiht what you said. When you think you've come up with some striking content, send an e-mail to the other bloggers most likely to be interested.
Posted by: Jerry Lawson on July 7, 2003 08:11 PMI've got to double and triple second the RSS stuff. I should have mentioned it, because lately, all that I read is RSS feeds. I try to visit non-RSS sites as often as I can, but it just isn't as convenient for me. Since blogger has some sort of RSS thingy set up (I think?) I wish everyone would use it. It's quite frustrating!
Anyways, the whole thing was directed at people who have apparently been linking to me but I had no way of knowing it. 1) they weren't in my technorati cosmos (which i love!) and 2) just weren't getting any publicity because they weren't linked to anywhere. it's not like they were bad blogs, but just not carrying out anything properly. i don't personally click on my links because i know other people will click soon enough, but if you have no traffic, it sure does help to click on your own links.
being emailed by bloggers can be somewhat annoying (ooh, look at my empty blog, want to trade links?), but i really do appreciate emails from established bloggers pointing me to their site. as i said, i won't always link, but if i enjoy it, i put it into my reading bin.
as for compelling content, i try, but if i haven't been writing in a while (i definitely suffer from serious periods of drought in the writing area) sometimes i'll do some gratuitous linking along w/ the content just to get back on the radar.
as you can tell, i DO read my server statistics. it's how i find out about new blogs!
poon - blithering idiocy is okay in some respects but not in others :) especially when starting out.
Posted by: Alice on July 7, 2003 08:52 PM
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